4 Tips to Get Better Testimonials From Your SaaS Users

By
Emily Smith on Mon, Dec 10, 2018

User testimonials are key to fostering trust in your business by demonstrating the value of your service or product. They are a powerful form of social proof, offering a direct and reassuring answer to a potential customer’s most pressing question: “Will I be happy with this product?”

But many of us find it difficult to get testimonials from our users, either faced with a reluctance to provide one, or receiving limp quotes so generic they could apply to any one of our competitors.

1) Ask at the Right Time

The last thing you want is to annoy your users with a constant barrage of testimonial requests every time they log in. Asking at the right time will go a long way to making your user more likely to respond. To identify the ‘right time’ to ask for a testimonial, you’ll need to understand what success looks like to your user, when you’ll know they’ve achieved their desired outcome from your service.

Asking at the right time – when they’ve achieved one of their goals – will mean they’re happy with the results they’re getting from your service, and increase the likelihood of them talking positively and in detail about its benefits.

2) Ask the Right Questions

A perfect testimonial would be very specific to your service and the benefits it provides. You want to guide your communication with your user towards providing a high-quality, specific quote.

Your questions should be open-ended so they can’t just give a yes/no answer, and encourage your user to mention specific features of your service that have been useful to them. Ask about the benefits to their business, how it’s improved their workload, and whether they’d recommend it to their colleagues, rather than how they’ve used your service.

3) Don’t Ask for a Testimonial

I know, crazy, right? But if you straight off ask a user for a testimonial, it piles on the pressure. What should a testimonial look like? How long should it be? Does this sound too fake?

Instead, ask about their experience, and check in to make sure everything’s going well. If you’ve timed your email or call well, you’ll get in touch just as they’ve achieved one of their goals, and they should be very happy to tell you about their experience with your service so far.

4) Follow-up with a Request

Once you’ve had this conversation or email exchange with your user, follow up with a request like, “Everything you told me just now would make a great testimonial. I’d like to put this on our website with your name and company, if that’s OK?”